Members and Advisory Board

Chair and Co-Founder

Harriet Salarno

Placer/San Francisco County

Victim – Daughter

September 3, 1979 changed forever the lives of Mike and Harriet Salarno. Their eldest daughter, Catina Rose Salarno, was senselessly murdered ‘execution style’ at the University of the Pacific in Stockton on her first day of school. She was only 18 years old.

In the years that followed, the Salarno family endured the frustrations of a criminal justice system that tilted too heavily toward preserving criminal rights while barely addressing the rights and needs of victims and victims’ families.

President

Nina Salarno Besselman

Placer

Victim – Sister

An accomplished former prosecutor and Deputy District Attorney, Nina Salarno Besselman is the owner of The Law Office of Nina Salarno Besselman, A Professional Corporation, as well as Executive Board Member for America's leading crime victims advocacy organization, Crime Victims United (CVU).

One of three daughters to CVU founders Michael and Harriet Salarno, Nina was just eleven years old when her older sister, Catina Rose Salarno was senselessly murdered execution-style on the University of the Pacific Campus. Nina and her family quickly learned that victims had limited rights, and through determination to change the law and protect victims, Crime Victims United was launched. In fact, Nina became one of the Nation's youngest victims' advocates when, at the age of 12, she testified before President Reagan's Task Force on Crime Victims and participated in various crime victim programs.